Danielle’s POV
*****
“Ah—”
“Hold still. Big ass crybaby.”
“That wasn’t very nice of you.”
I ignored Anzari as I tried cleaning the cut on his palm with a warm, wet rag for what felt like the umpteenth time.
We sat at the kitchen island, mostly silent.
Occasionally my eyes would roam over his naked chest.
The way his dishevelled black hair fell over it in silky but scattered waves.
The way it rose and fell—Jesus, what am I doing?
“So,” I cleared my throat, deciding to talk about literally anything before I gouged him out with my eyes.
“This ritual you cast. It’s going to last for a while, right?”
His face crumpled a bit when I finally withdrew the rag from his palm.
I found it cute—he was so reactive to pain instead of pretending he wasn’t.
“Yes, it’s supposed to.” He pulled back the injured palm, placing it on his lap away from my reach.
“At least until I can think of a new living solution for myself.”
I blinked a couple of times.
“New living solution, huh?”
“Hmm.” Anzari nodded, rolling his shoulder muscles with a relieved sigh.
“I obviously can’t continue staying here forever. Soon enough I’ll need to confront my brother and the accusations on my head.”
“But how?” I was genuinely worried.
“Y–You said all the gods look at you differently now. What if they all come together and rip you—?”
“Things don’t always work like that,” Anzari chuckled, folding two pairs of his arms in front of his chest while another rested behind his head.
“Sure, they look at me differently. But what do they care about more than proving allegiance to a dead king?”
Crickets.
Obviously, I didn’t know the answer to that.
He went on regardless.
“A new, competent king.” He scoffed.
“My brother is giving them just that. Amongst the gods, there are those who probably secretly wished my father had died and can now push their opinions to my brother—in hopes that his fresh eyes acknowledge them.”
“It low-key feels like politics on this planet,” I shook my head.
Anzari leaned in a bit.
“Humanity and divinity share a lot of similarities if you begin dissecting them,” A pause.
Then the corner of his lips curled just a fraction.
“Well… if you ignore the weaknesses and staggering mortality when faced with just about everything under the sun.”
I twisted my mouth in disapproval.
“Says the ‘god’ who kept whining because of a so-called cut.” New chapters come out on g.com first.
“As I said, it was made by a divine weapon.”
“Same way mortals got mortal weapons, boo. And mortal shit to deal with.” I rested back against my chair.
“Trust, if humanity had half the privileges you deities had? Tch.”
It both amazed and alarmed me how well I kept taking this mind-bending entanglement of divine insanity each time new strings were added.
Sure, I still have loads of questions.
Like did other groups of gods exist out there?
The Olympians.
The Egyptians.
The Celts.
Jehovah?
“Anyway,” Anzari spun his head to the side as he rose to his feet.
His chair scraped against the ground behind him, his eyes moving back to me.
“I believe I need to go back to that glass cage you house me in.”
I rolled my eyes.
“It’s called a terrarium, dumbass.”
“Sure.” Anzari nodded.
He was actually about to leave—but then paused.
“By the way… how’s that ex male lover of yours?”
I froze the instant that question tumbled out of him.
Suddenly the ritual and everything else I saw seemed like nothing but a breeze.
“Would it kill you to just say ‘ex-husband’ like a normal person?”
“Well, you know I’m anything but normal.”
“Shut up.”
“Are you going to talk about it or not?”
For a moment, I thought I wasn’t going to say anything.
But the longer those piercing silver eyes stayed on me, the more every guard I thought I had up crumbled like Lego blocks.
With a heavy sigh, I spoke.
“He’s filing for full custody of our son.” I met Anzari’s gaze.
“In case you don’t know what that means—”
“He plans to restrict you from seeing the boy you brought into this world.” Anzari completed, quickly adding.
“I’m old. Not stupid.”
A tired smile found my lips.
“Yeah,” I looked down at my hands.
“And honestly? I’m scared.”
The words tasted bitter.
“The divorce already wrecked me.” My fingers tightened around the damp rag lying on the countertop.
“There were days I couldn’t even get out of bed. My mom practically became Jeremy’s full-time babysitter because I… I just wasn’t myself.”
I let out a shaky breath.
“If I lose my son too…” My voice cracked despite my best efforts.
“I don’t think I’ve got another recovery in me, Anzari. I really don’t.”
Silence settled between us.
He didn’t interrupt or rush me.
After a while, Anzari stepped closer until he stood beside my chair.
“A mother’s love,” he said quietly, “isn’t something easily hidden. Surely the ones judging your case need only witness how you look upon your child to know where he belongs.”
A watery laugh escaped me.
“I wish it worked that way.” I sniffled, rubbing beneath one eye.
“Human courts don’t always judge hearts.”
His expression shifted ever so slightly, almost thoughtfully.
Curiosity tugged at me.
“What about your mother?”
The question landed harder than I’d expected.
Something unreadable crossed his face.
Then his jaw flexed.
“She isn’t part of this conversation.” That came out way too bluntly not to mean something.
We simply looked at each other, neither of us speaking.
Without really thinking about it, I reached out.
My fingertips brushed against one of his hands before slowly tracing upward along his forearm.
His skin was warm.
Warm enough to make my pulse stumble.
My hand continued higher.
Something flickered behind those silver eyes.
Then suddenly—I yelped as the chair scraped loudly across the floor.
In one effortless motion, Anzari had pulled me clean off it, my body colliding against his broad chest before six powerful arms closed around me.
My breath caught as our eyes locked.
Neither of us moved.
Then he lowered his head.
His lips found mine in a kiss that stole every coherent thought straight from my brain.
Hello there, chaos gremlin!
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